Washing-machine



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS J. PRICE, OF MACOMB, ILLINOIS.

WASHING-MACHINE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 50,162, dated September26, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS J. PRICE, of Macomb, in the county ofMcDonough and State otl Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Washing-Machines 5 and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and the letters ot' referencemarked thereon.

Figure l is a longitudinal vertical section, and Fig. 2 an elevation orfront view, ot' a portion detached.

The nature of my invention consists in attaching the plunger to springssecured to the vibrating frame, whereby the clothes are preserved frominjury in the process of washing.

To enable others skilled in the art to constructl and use my invention,I will proceed to describe it.

A represents a rectangular 4box mounted on a suitable frame, as shown inFig. l. To each side of the box A is secured a bar, F, which formhandles at the rear, and which have mounted in their front ends in frontof the box a wheel, G, which serves as a bearingwheel, upon which themachine is moved like a wheelbarrow when desired. When standing on itsfeet the wheel is raised from the Hoor, and then becomes a balance-wheelfor regulating the motion ofthe plunger C,to which it is connected.

Within the box, near its front end, is rmly secured a board, B, theupper half ot which is serrated or grooved similar to a wash-board, andinclines forward, as shown, the lower halt' of the same being smooth andperforated with holes.

'A frame consisting of the two uprights E E and the cross-bar D, asclearly shown in Fig. 2, is pivoted at its lower end to rear legs of themachine, as shown in Fig. l. To the inner side of each of the uprights Ea springbar,f,is bo1ted,as shown in Fig.2, these springs being connectedat their upper ends bythe rod e. This vibrating frame is connected by arod, J, at each side of the box to cranks n on each end ofthe axle orshaft of wheel G, so that by moving the pivoted frame back and forth thewheel is caused to rotate.

A movable plunger, C, is placed within the box in the manner shown inFig. 1. To this plungertwo rods,a, are attached, and, passing out at therear end of the box, rest upon the rod e, connected to the springs f,the rods a having a series of notches cut in their lower edges, so thatthe plunger() may be adjusted as desired to suit the quantity ot'clothes inthe box.

two objects are accomplished: First, the plunger is made to operate moresoftly upon the clothes, and hence is not so liable to tear or injurethem, as is the case where the springs are not used. Again, it' toolarge a quantity of clothes 'happens to be between the plunger C and theboard B, the cranks will not be permitted sufficient movement to performa revolution, and hence the machine will be stopped 5 but by using thesprings this difficulty will be obviated, as the springs will yieldsufficiently to permit the cranks to pass their center, and thus themotion will be continued.

The manner of using the machine is too obvious to require description.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is- The sprin gsf, attached to the vibratingframe, in combination with the movableplunger C and the stationary board B, all arranged and operating as andfor the purpose set forth.

THOS. J. PRICE.

Witnesses THOMPSON CHANDLER, WILSON HARRIS.

1t will be seen that by the use ofthe springs

